Family Health

Whether you are a parent, coach, teacher, fitness professional, physician, allied health professional, or someone who regularly interacts with kids or teens, you have the opportunity to enrich lives and raise healthier families. Get advice about youth physical activity and fitness, nutrition and kid-friendly recipes, parents’ health and fitness, parenting and pediatrics all in one place.

Experts recommend that kids get 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous activity every day, but kids don’t really care about recommendations or what’s good for them—they just want to have fun! Here are some great games and drills that are super fun and help build the necessary skills needed for physical development and to improve their overall health and well-being.

Wondering how to keep the kids moving (and burning off some of that enviable energy) when cooler temperatures force them to spend more time indoors? If you find yourself housebound with restless kids, use these great ideas to set up a relay or obstacle course around your house, apartment or yard. You’ll get to keep your sanity and your kids get to have a bunch of fun!

Childhood obesity rates have risen steadily over the past several decades and many attribute these increases, at least in part, to exercise deficit disorder. Characterized by reduced levels of regular activity, too many children are sedentary and miss out on the benefits of exercise. Here is a fun and easy way to make being active a family goal, and help avoid the consequences of exercise deficit disorder.

Experts recommend that kids get 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous activity every day, but kids don’t really care about recommendations or what’s good for them—they just want to have fun! Here are some great games and drills that are super fun and help build the necessary skills needed for physical development and to improve their overall health and well-being.

Strength training was once considered too dangerous for kids, but times have changed and many now see the benefits of kids participating in safe, well-designed resistance-training programs. Here are some key points to remember when designing resistance-training programs with kids, along with two sample programs that are both fun and effective.

How do we help create a generation of stronger, healthier kids? Make sure they are building strong bones that will carry them from childhood to adulthood. Here is a fun and effective weight-bearing exercise program that will help kids build strong healthy bones along with greater strength, coordination and aerobic conditioning.

Asking a young athlete to perform too much, too soon is like sending a bird out of its nest before it has learned to fly. That’s why wisely progressing a young athlete’s training program is absolutely essential to his or her long-term success. Here’s what you need to know to gradually and progressively increase the demands on an athlete so he or she will get stronger, improve performance and avoid injury.

Are you familiar with the overload training principle? Understanding this key principle allows you to create fitness programs that generate better results for your athletes while also challenging their maximal potential. Learn a variety of techniques that enable you to advance strength and training adaptations in your young athletes.

Fitness professionals and coaches who understand the demands placed on the body during performance realize how important training specificity is for their athletes. Learn why it should be considered one of the most important principles to remember when creating a training program.

Fitness professionals and coaches who understand the demands placed on the body during performance realize how important training specificity is for their athletes. Learn why it should be considered one of the most important principles to remember when creating a training program.

Years ago, people with lung conditions were advised to take it easy, and sit out of strenuous activities. Thanks to medical research, those days are over.
It’s established that regular exercise is beneficial for people with lung disease.

Using the united states department of agriculture’s myplate with your children can make learning about healthy eating both educational and fun! Here are 5 tips to help bring myplate to life for your child.